Category: technology

Digital Marketing and the Importance of SEO

In today’s digital age, every business strives to gain competitive advantage through digital marketing. SEO is an instrumental factor in expanding the digital marketing landscape. It aims at increasing the visibility of a website on a search engine.

However, the expansion of digital marketing also has certain drawbacks. The search marketers need to identify certain essential points to remember before conducting SEOs. The significant areas of focus for are the constant algorithm updates posted by search engines. For instance, Google has various algorithms for compliance, like Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird, etc. explained later in points below. Apart from algorithms, there also has been an entry of many fake websites in digital marketing providing misinformation which need to be checked. Following are five obvious SEO mistakes that you can avoid in your digital marketing blogs:-

1) Avoid stuffing of keywords

We all know that keyword management is the core of SEO process. Achieving Keyword optimisation is every search marketer’s dream. For that, there are many different technological solutions based on machine learning. These solutions also improve the ranking of a website on the search engine’s search results. However, many times in a quest to achieve a higher rank in search results, search marketers overuse certain keywords. They repeatedly use the keywords thinking that maximum search traffic can be attracted to their websites.

But you should strictly avoid this, as certain search engines have officially forbidden keyword stuffingthrough their algorithm updates. For instance, the “Hummingbird” algorithm update of Google on 22nd Aug 2013 strictly forbids the overuse of keywords. Thus, this is one miniscule SEO mistake you can avoid on your blogs.

At times, SEO websites itself have many spam links or irrelevant links which distract the customers. This might discourage a lot of search traffic for your website and will also affect your search result rankings. Also, search engine algorithms will impose some penalty on your website if the links are spam or irrelevant. For instance, the “Penguin” algorithm update by Google on 24th April 2014 forbids spam and irrelevant links on an SEO website. As a result, instead of positive digital marketing, it might lead to negative impact on the image of your site.

To avoid this, you can use backlink checker tools which continuously conduct a comparative check of your website’s links with the search engine’s algorithm updates to ensure that there’s no violation.

Broken links are incomplete links which lead your customers nowhere and negatively affect your website. You can easily prevent broken links on your site by simple careful monitoring

3) Avoid Plagiarism and Duplication in your website’s content

Among the significant problems in Digital Marketing are plagiarism and duplication of content. There has been a considerable amount of copying and duplication of content by fraudulent websites from the original content of authentic sites. Copy pasting or plagiarism discourages the digital marketing industry. While duplication can also be unintentional, but it still affects the websites. There have been algorithm updates of certain search engines over this issue.

For instance, on 24th Feb 2011 Google introduced “Panda” update to check plagiarism and duplication. So if you conduct digital marketing on Google, make sure you avoid plagiarism and duplication. You can approach the services offered by Joel House Search Media Brisbane. They will make sure to provide you with the best possible services at the minimum possible prices.

4) Avoid thin content and advertise-oriented content

Most of the times SEO websites, to make quick and easy money, resort to posting heavily ad-centric content which lacks appropriate quality. As a result, such thin content does not help the online customers at all. This, in turn, will divert all the search traffic from your website. Recently Google introduced an algorithm update named “Fred”, on 8th March 2017 which strictly forbids heavy advertise and low quality in SEO content. Thus, you must ensure that your website provides quality and relevant content with minimum ad-traffic.

Many businesses which indulge in digital marketing only have a desktop site. And as you know that today most of the customers conduct their online searches on their mobile phones, they may be discouraged from visiting a desktop-only site. In fact, Google also had introduced an algorithm update named “Mobile”, on 21st April 2015, making it mandatory for SEO websites to have a mobile version of their sites to improve their mobile usability. So you must make sure that you create a mobile version of your website.

Conclusion

Digital marketing is a big ocean of marketing opportunities with the help of SEO. But certain points need to be taken care of such as search engine algorithm updates and misinformation. The algorithm updates like Penguin, Panda, Fred, etc. aim at checking content related factors like plagiarism, spam links, etc. So make sure that you comply with all these algorithms and avoid mistakes on your SEO blogs.

Author Bio: Christopher Jones is a serial entrepreneur, an angel investor and also a founder and former CEO of a digital marketing agency. He also has been an author of a best-selling book on SEO management. In this post, he has mentioned about the common problems that we can see in blogs as well as how it can be avoided for betterment. He has also mentioned about Joel House Search Media Brisbane services here.

Apple Advances on Self Driving Car

What was once human fantasy may soon become the norm. Self-driving cars are becoming increasingly common to see on the roads nowadays. And as they hit the streets in growing numbers, one company is making efforts to ensure driverless vehicles do so in style and with as less trouble as possible.

Last year, Chief Executive Officer of Apple Inc., Tim Cook dismissed reports saying the company was building its own self-driving cars, claiming instead that his firm was working on “autonomous systems” that will power a range of different products. However, it has since become clear that Apple is indeed working on an autonomous vehicle of some sorts under the name “project Titan.”

A Cleantechnicapiece claims that Apple’s self-driving car project is still in the works. The California-based company is said to have brought more people on the self-driving car project, including a Waymo engineer, Jaime Waydo. Apple also hired another notable personality in the person of John Gianandrea, a former Google executive and AI expert.

Ambition

The emergence of Tesla, Waymo, Uber and Google’s ambition to push the limits of innovation to deliver maximum comfort for passengers has led to breakthroughs in the quest for self-driving cars. Recent events suggest Apple hopes to join the train by manufacturing a driverless vehicle of its own.

If Mr. Cook’s earlier submissions are any indication, then Apple will stop at nothing until it has realized its goals. The CEO had stated that Apple’s then new self-driving technology was the “…mother of all AI projects,” which is “is something that’s incredibly exciting for us.”

Considering it’s a big rich company with a vast amount of resources and influence, there’s little to suggest that Apple’s Project Titan will be anything other than a success. The organization has all it takes to lay its hands on the right technology and attract the best brains to help speed up the project.

Steady Progress

It is not yet clear what form Apple’s self-driving car initiative would take. For now, however, it appears that the company’s autonomous driving team will concentrate their efforts on building self-driving employee shuttles in collaboration with Volkswagen, according to The Verge.

The tech giant settled for Volkswagen after talks regarding partnerships with Mercedes-Benz and BMW ended, per New York Times. It would be recalled that Apple obtained permits to test self-driving vehicles in California in furtherance of its driverless car ambition sometime in 2017.

The Drive reported that the company’s fleet of self-driving cars registered with the California Department of Motor Vehicles has grown to 55 cars. This makes Apple the company with the second largest fleet of autonomous vehicles in California after General Motor’s Cruise.

It may not be there yet, but Apple seems to be making continued progress with its self-driving car project.

Social intelligence is an integral part of business strategy, especially at present when social media is a major factor in any online marketing campaigns. It starts with listening to everyone who is mentioning your brand, products and/or services. These include customers, competitors, and industry experts, just to name a few.

Social intelligence allows you to better understand your customers, and allow you to make smart decisions when it comes to business strategies. You can achieve social intelligence by turning the social media big data into action and insights. It will be integrated into your business process and shared across all the company’s systems and departments.

Learn Social Listening

The first step of social intelligence is to learn social listening. You should be able to monitor social media for data regarding the company. This is done by tracking blog contents, Twitter, mainstream news sites, Facebook and other social networking sites, YouTube, forums, Flicker, message boards, and others.

By gathering data from social media, you will get better insights on how consumers and competitors view your company. It will also allow you to discover keywords and social trends.

Develop Social Programs and Policies

It is important that you develop social programs that are flexible. Just make sure that the right policies and standards are in place. These policies protect the employees and the brand. The social media policies should include what information can be shared and who can share them. Not only that, but also there should be a crisis escalation plan so that the company is prepared to handle any crisis in the future.

Turn Data into Useful Insights

Data is useless unless it has been analyzed. Social media measurement is more than just monitoring Twitter followers and Facebook likes. You should establish key performance indicators so that you can easily measure the business’ goals. When analyzed right, the social data can be used to come up with smart business decisions.

Find Ideas for New Content

When it comes to online marketing, content is still the reigning king. Social intelligence allows you to learn the latest trends that you can use for content ideas and marketing campaigns. By listening to your target market, you will be able to promote your products in the language they use.

Engage with the Community

Social intelligence allows businesses to engage with their target market in a more personal manner. Not only that, it fosters the development of a community around the brand. One way to establish a positive brand image is by engaging your potential and existing customers. It shows that you value their opinions. Communicating with them through social channels will inspire them to take action, improve brand awareness, and develop loyalty.

Social intelligence requires a lot of time and money. However, when done right, the investment will be helpful for the long-term success of the business.

Blockchain and the Impact on Transforming The Online Gaming World

Blockchain technology has certainly taken over every domain of digital transactions. It has revolutionised the world of cryptocurrencies and has given everyone around the world a new platform to do online transactions. The Blockchain technology has definitely exceeded expectations and has reached new heights year in and year out; the tech has even lengthened its reach and can even be found in the online gaming world. In fact, it has made quite an impact in gaming and it should be very interesting to see how Blockchain will revolutionise the gaming space.

Private, Legal, Low Cost and fairly accessible Option

Cryptocurrencies have managed to find their way into the casino industry and in doing so its expanded its status. An increasing number of online casinos have introduced cryptocurrencies as a main payment or as a substitute payment method. The great thing is that these forms of payment are safe, accessible and well documented which further strengthens the reputation of cryptocurrencies. With the use of cryptocurrencies these gaming companies allow their members to remain anonymous and give them a piece of mind knowing that it is extremely safe. Cryptocurrencies also make it easier because gamers and gamblers don’t run into any difficulties with regards to financial documents or setting up an account.

Reduces Fraud and Loss of Revenue

Fraud and a loss of revenue is relatively widespread on the internet and this is really unfortunate. Studies have confirmed there were approximately two million onlinefraud incidents reported in 2017, with the general belief being this number is only the tip of the iceberg. Blockchain technology has ensured the extermination of fraud and revenue loss which will save the online casino industry billions every year.

Developers are creating Blockchain driven games

Blockchain has created many games but it has taken their technology to a new extreme. Developers have created Decentraland which is a virtual reality platform which is powered by Ethereum Blockchain. Decentraland allows people to own different pieces of land which you are free to do whatever you want to with. With this so called ‘digital real estate” players are able to access an entire new platform that has businesses, services and social activities.

Ensures more equality in the online gaming industry

Most players have the idea that the house always wins but that is no longer the case thanks to Blockchain. The majority of gamblers have accepted the fact that they would most likely lose more often than not, but Blockchain has created equality in games. Smart contracts, cryptography and Blockchain technology have all worked together to develop a system which has ensure that there is equality in any games that contain their technology.

Therefore, it is clear that the Blockchain technology has had a significant effect on the online gaming industry. Blockchain technology has given this industry room to flourish and has also made the online gaming industry a much safer environment to get involved in. This technology has also improved payments, betting and encouraged the creation of new types of games.

Top Solar Stocks for Investing

The solar stocks had a bad time during the second half of 2015 until 2016, although they recovered in 2017. As a matter of fact, the ETF, which was tracking the Guggenheim Solar ETF, has seen an impressive return of more than 54% in the previous year. The federal tax credits on home solar installation, as well as other incentives that stimulate the industry, are among the reasons why the solar stocks have risen in the past. Yet the sector was being resilient in 2017 even in a time where the presidential administration doesn’t prioritize renewable energy in the same way as the previous administration did.

Depending on how you look at it, the solar industry’s sunny outlook could mean that now is the perfect time to invest in solar stocks. If you’re thinking of including solar stocks in your portfolio, then you should check out these top 3 solar stocks:

First Solar, Inc. (FSLR)

After a somewhat disappointing performance in 2016, when their revenue went down to almost 20%,First Solar had a remarkable year in 2017. After the company beat consensus estimates during the first quarters of 2017, results in the 3rd quarter were far more impressive – with revenue of $1.09 billion. This figure represents a 60% growth which crushed the estimate of $824.2 million. Although the company didn’t meet expectations during the 4th quarter, an adjusted loss of 25 cents for share came in better than the expected loss of 33 cents. First Solar can benefit from the tariff decision of Trump since the company uses thin solar panels, a technology that’s different from what’s used by Chinese companies that Trump’s tariffs are trying to protect the US from.

SunPower Corporation (SPWR)

SunPower went down by more than 70% of its overall value during the entire course of 2016, a figure that triggered fear among its investors. Bankruptcy is the number one concern among solar stocks, however, SunPower is mainly owned by Total S.A, a petroleum giant, which props the solar company up with credit and even bought solar panels to be used by its 5,000 gas stations. The company is spending money on its new technology in order to boost the efficiency of solar panels and move to utility-scale projects that could become a game changer in the company’s balance sheet.

Vivint Solar, Inc. (VSLR)

Vivint Solar is a company aimed at the residential market, providing both storage and rooftop solar solutions. Their stock showed a good performance in June of 2017, rallying at more than 80% after analysts at Goldman Sachs upgraded the shares to purchase and almost doubled their target price to $6 from $3.50. However, the shares of Vivint gave up most of these gains. Nevertheless, the stock ended in 2017 up by almost 56% for the entire year and after suffering from volatility in the first half of the year 2018, the company has now recovered and has enjoyed a 52-week high of more than $6 in the summer and is currently trading at $5.20 per share, which is up by 30%.

If you are in the CRM business, you’ve probably heard tons of clients and non-clients complaining about their CRM – those that are not user friendly, those that are just too complicated, and those that are, for lack of a better word, altogether unhelpful. Businesses are always looking out for a Customer Relationship Management system.

For sure, there are genuine complaints among them, but the truth is that CRMs today have matured so far beyond what you could access a few years ago. Most CRMs in the market now offer excellent service, whether you choose the high end ones like SAP, Oracle or Salesforce.com and its Salesforce ANT migration tool, or the middle range Sage CRM, MS Dynamics CRM and GoldMine, or even lower end types like Highrise, Nimble, Insight.ly or Zoho.

There are hundreds more out there, and most have a robust framework that is easy to use and well designed. Some are on-premise while others are in-cloud, with features for marketing, sales, email, opportunity management and calendaring. You can integrate with other systems, access social media directly, merge with and access from phones and other portable devices and a lot more.

The problem isn’t with the CRM system; it’s with the management of the CRM system. If you’ve been facing CRM challenges, it’s time to stop complaining and take action. Here are three things to get you going:

Concentrate on the reports

The most important aspect of any CRM is that it’s a database, no matter where it’s placed. And databases generate reports, without which any CRM system has no value. You must make sure your system is set to generate the key reports you need to track your sales and marketing endeavors; any other aspect in the CRM is a plus.

These reports should be configured to be delivered to your inbox on a fixed schedule – daily, weekly monthly etc., since they are what managers will use to manage their teams. Your teams should feed in necessary data on schedule to make sure that the reports are generated on schedule. If you’re not doing this, you know half the reason your CRM is giving you hell.

Get a CRM administrator

Every company needs one of these. Someone who owns the system and knows it from end to end. Someone who is responsible for all data help in the system and who knows the answer to every past, present and future question about it. And this is the best part – it’s doesn’t need to be and actually shouldn’t be an IT guy either.

CRMs today are pretty easy to learn, so all you need is a smart employee in administration who can be trained in the nooks and crannies of CRM, and then authorized to manage the system and all staff remotely involved in it. A strong administrator is an investment no organization can do without if the CRM will succeed in its role.

Embrace your CRM or go

As a manager, you’ve got to get your team on the love-the-CRM-or-go bandwagon. Most employees are resistant to change, but it you’re firm as a manager, eventually they will understand that they have no choice but to work with it. If you let employees get away with sabotaging the CRM by doing things ‘like they’ve always been done’ you’re setting the organization up for failure.

Pay attention to what every employee is doing, and make sure it’s being done correctly, no matter what CRM it is. Ensure your staff have been adequately trained and prepared, and then require them to apply themselves to make the system succeed, in every part of the organization.

What is CRM

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a term that refers to practices, strategies and technologies that companies use to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle, with the goal of improving business relationships with customers

Author Bio

Sujain Thomas is a competent CRM expert and Salesforce products distributor. For more information on Salesforce ANT migration tool and to get assistance using other Salesforce products, visit her website.

Power, Grace and Beauty in the Palm of Your Hand

Powerful. Graceful. Easy to use.The iPhone 8 brings useful features you would expect from an Apple product. It delivers a meaningful, new consumer experience thanks to a faster processor, wireless charging, and an excellent dual-lens camera that offers a great way to capture images. But that’s not all; many other elements combine to make this superb device the quintessence of all some consumers so profoundly adore today. This review takes an in-depth look at these features as well as the pros and cons of the smartphone.

Build and Design

In terms of build and design, the iPhone 8 sports an old design in that it resembles the iPhone 7, 6s, and 6, albeit it is sturdier. The Cupertino-based tech giant re-engineered the chassis, adding a glass rear to the alloy casing in a bid to make the device more robust. The glass back, which is further reinforced by a steel substructure, is touted by Apple as “the most durable [glass] in a smartphone.”

Sporting a glass rear makes the iPhone 8 more fragile than metal-backed phones. That notwithstanding, the innovation gives it a much more premium appearance than previous-generation iPhones. The gentle curve at the edges blends well with the glass and aluminum to make the device more comfortable and easy to hold.

At 138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3, the newer model is also slightly thicker than its predecessor. It may not feature a particularly head-turning design, but the iPhone 8 boasts a cleaner look when compared to Apple’s older phones. This is mainly because much of the text at the back has been removed to make the device clean and more appealing.

There’s still no sign of a headphone jack. But the phone more than makes up for this with some general sound improvements. The stereo speakers have been redesigned for enhanced audio output (volume has been upped by 25 percent compared to the iPhone 7) and deeper bass. There’s also a forward-facing speaker equipped to provide clearer audio.

Processor

The iPhone 8 comes with Apple’s own A11 Bionic chip, which has been hailed as the most powerful chipset in the world. The six core chip delivers two low-performance and four high-performance cores. Both core divisions offer significant speed improvements on the A10 chip. The regular cores are up to 25 percent faster, while the high-performance ones are about 75 faster.

The camera also boasts an excellent color reproduction capacity, while the auto HDR feature works to create perfectly lit photos with more color and details. The selfie camera features a single 7 MP f/2.2 aperture, which doesn’t produce as many details in pictures as the rear, sadly.

Battery Life and Wireless Charging

The iPhone 8 is powered by a 1,821 mAh non-removable battery, which lasts all day on average use. The device is also the first Apple phone to offer wireless charging capability.

As the iPhone 8 does not ship with wireless chargers, users rely on Qi-Certified wireless chargers to juice up the device. At the time of its launch, the wireless charging was limited to 5W. However, it has since gone up to 7.5W following the release of iOS 11.2. The upgrade is still not fast enough when compared with Samsung phones which offer up to 15W.

Pros:

Wireless charging

Fast mobile chip

Dual-lens camera

Supports fast charging with 28W chargers

Good battery life

Features a home button

4K Ultra HD video at rapid 60 frames per second

Cons:

Large body

Dated 16:9 aspect ratio

No headphone jack

Old-fashioned look

Last Word

If you are coming from the iPhone 7 or 6s Plus, getting an iPhone 8 may not feel like a major upgrade if you consider the design. However, if you would rather a device with a better camera and wireless charging, then the iPhone 8 is worth considering.

From the ever-evolving world of mobile to the rapid development in artificial intelligence; digital marketing is in a constant state of flux. It is a real challenge for digital marketers to keep up with the latest trends and stay in the loop, with cutting-edge technologies and strategies. Here are 5 digital marketing trends that will reshape the industry this year.

1) Marketing through live video using Instagram, Periscope and Snapchat

Instagram, Periscope and Snapchat are allowing businesses to connect with their target audience in real-time. Live video has become an essential component of social strategy as it helps to humanize a brand.

Periscope is a live-streaming app owned by Twitter and it allows broadcasts to be auto-published on Twitter accounts, as well. Followers can engage in real-time communication and the broadcasts can be viewed for 24 hours on mobile devices, as well as, desktops.

Snapchat is a semi-live streaming app, which removes the pressure of watching a video right here, right now. But, once the video is viewed, it disappears. Also, this app has a feature called ‘story’ allowing a user to create a collection of video to be viewed for 24 hours. It even allows viewers to save the video and upload it to other channels.

Instagram, on the other hand, combines the best elements of Periscope and Snapchat. On Instagram Live, followers can watch a video while it is being broadcasted and remove access, once the broadcast is completed.

2) Personalized Marketing via Big Data Analytics

Big Data Analytics is playing a major role in moulding digital marketing campaign and enhancing sales effectiveness. A full service digital marketing company can help you collect data, such as customer information, demographics, interests, behaviors and other relevant business information. The data collected will help you identify shopping & demographic trends and income levels while helping to customize your marketing strategy for meeting specific customer expectations. Big Data will help you in identifying the propensity to convert different behavioral patterns and characteristics of the consumers.

3) Marketing via Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality may be a craze among gamers, but it also has huge potentials in marketing. This technology has fundamentally altered the way businesses interact, with their target audience and market their products. While augmented reality (AR) uses 3D model to augment the real, physical world; virtual reality (VR) creates an environment,which is completely different from the one that you are in standing in.

In 2016, OnePlus utilized the VR marketing strategy to launch its flagship phone, OnePlus 3. OnePlus teamed up with AntVR, the VR specialists, to create 30,000 Loop VR headsets that were gone just as soon as they hit the markets. The chinese smartphone manufacturer showcased the launch of it’s flagship phone with the help of VR.

This marketing strategy went down well with the consumers and the comfortable VR headsets created all the buzz necessary around OnePlus.

4) Marketing using Wearables

The use of marketing via wearables is one of the emerging digital marketing trends, due to its wide demographic appeal and the ability to be integrated, with smartphones. It allows marketers to tap into the market by interacting and sharing relevant information to consumers through a personal channel. The market for wearable technology is estimated at a whopping 31.27 billion USD by 2020. With its presence on social media, wearables are a huge push to the healthcare and the marketing industry.

5) Marketing using Artificial Intelligence Bots

Artificial intelligence (AI) and digital marketing bots may not be able to replace humans, but can be utilized to supplement human knowledge and experience. Marketers, via AI, can unlock deeper insights into consumer base and communicate with prospective customers more effectively. It can help eliminate impersonal and monotonous aspects of a marketer’s job.

Bots can replace humans in places, such as online customer interaction and answering queries. From virtual shopping assistants to personalized content suggestions, AI is making great strides into the digital marketing industry. For instance, Facebook is making the use of artificial intelligence bots for helping users book a flight, providing answers to health-related questions, providing latest financial news, and so on.

The above-mentioned are the top 5 digital marketing trends in 2017 that you need to incorporate, right now, in your digital marketing campaign.

Video as a Marketing Tool

Video is a potent online marketing tool if you know how to use it. It is a cost-effective way to extend your reach, enhance your brand, and grow your business. The use of videos is perhaps more important today than ever as consumers are increasingly faced with an abundance of platforms that have become a staple of their daily lives.

Today’s consumers are more sophisticated than ever. They are increasingly interacting more and more with on-screen graphics and videos through virtual communities such as YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, Vimeo, Instagram, and even Twitter.

With this in mind, we have identified some of the most exciting statistics for video views to help marketers and individuals understand the power of video as a marketing tool.

Technology has revolutionized the means through which customers find product information. The advent of the internet and growing awareness among the mass public means that customers now use the internet to understand a product in detail from every perspective instead of waiting to be sold to.

Consequently, marketers are advised to use explainer videos that make complicated things simple by explaining their product features in a way that costumers understand to boost engagement.

Globally, consumer internet video traffic will be 80% of all internet consumer traffic by 2019 (Tubularinsights)

Consumer internet video traffic will dominate other types of traffic, accounting for 80% share of the global market by 2019.

81 percent of businesses now use video for marketing (Hubspot)

Due to its ability to boost engagement, conversation, and sales, 81 percent of companies now use video as a marketing tool.

Learn About the Incredible Antikythera Mechanism

As far as science and technology go, the Antikythera Mechanism is one of the biggest and most intriguing stories ever told. But what exactly is the Antikythera Mechanism and what makes it such a significant discovery?

The Antikythera Mechanism is a device used to monitor and forecast solar cycles. The mechanism, which is often described as the world’s “first analogical computer,” is believed to have been used by early astronomers to mark the calendar as well as predict solar and lunar eclipse by tracking the movements of the sun, moon, and planets.

The Antikythera Mechanism was also used to plan a four-year athletics tournament cycle like the Olympic Games. Technically, you would be right to call it a calculator, as it was used to add, multiply, divide, and subtract. In addition, the relic could align different cycles and show the position of the sun and moon in the zodiac.

The device, a complex system, comprises over 30 sophisticated bronze gears held in a wooden and bronze case that’s about the same size as a shoebox. These gears were used to control dials tracking the moon, sun, planets, eclipses, as well as the schedule for the Olympics.

When Was the Antikythera Mechanism Discovered?

In 1900, a boatload of Greek sponge divers was blown off course by a storm, forcing them to take shelter by the small Mediterranean island of Antikythera, per LiveScience. The following day, they went diving off the tiny island and found the wreck of an ancient trading ship believed to be 2,000-years-old.

The divers later retrieved three flat pieces of corroded bronze from the submerged ship, which many believe sank between 70 BC and 60 BC on its way to Rome from Asia. Researchers say the device was first made sometime between the second and early first century.

Two years after the discovery, Greek politician, Spirydon Stais, who spearheaded the ship’s underwater excavation, visited the museum where the treasures from the wrecked cargo ship were kept. While sifting through the items, Stais was attracted by some fascinating pieces of bronze, which would later be known as the Antikythera Mechanism.

The Antikythera Mechanism’s True Purpose Finally Discovered

In the decades past, scientists have made several attempts to find the actual purpose of the Antikythera Mechanism using X-rays and CT scans to look inside the device. Despite several efforts, it wasn’t until 1951 that Derek J. de Solla Price found the real purpose of the “computer.”

Assisted by Greek nuclear physicist Charalampos Karakalos, Price took a complete X-ray and gamma-ray images of the device’s 82 fragments. His research showed that the mechanism’s primary gear represented the calendar year, while the smaller, unconnected gears were designed to serve as the celestial bodies, cites an Independent article.